Finally – we present Dakgalbi! Dakgalbi is famous in Korea for being a nutritious and affordable meal. It is made by pan-frying chicken that has been marinated in a savory gochujang sauce, along with cabbage and sweet potatoes. Say bye-bye to boring chicken 👋
Dakgalbi is the representative dish of Chuncheon (a small city in Korea). It was originally created by a restauranteur named Kim Yeong-Seok in the early 1960’s. The backstory is that he ran a pork restaurant in Chuncheon. One day, he ran out of pork. He rushed to a nearby store and bought two chickens as they didn’t have the pork cuts he needed. He split the chicken meat like pork ribs, grilled and served it in a gochujang-based sauce. The customers loved it and came back asking for more. Soon enough, the pork restaurant became famous in the region for their chicken.
They key taste variable in this recipe is the curry powder. It adds a cinnamon-y, smoky accent to the chicken and rounds out the spiciness of the dish.
A few of the ingredients like perilla leaves and rice cakes are hard to find outside of Korea. It’s fine to skip those. But make sure to include the cabbage and sweet potatoes. They work beautifully in this dish.
Ok guys, enjoy it and tag us in IG if you make it at home 🕺
Dakgalbi - Chuncheon style
Ingredients
Fresh Ingredients
- Chicken thigh skin on: 500 grams
- Cabbage - 2 cups
- Onion - 1 small or 1/2 medium-sized
- Spring onion - 1 whole forearm-sized piece
- Perilla leaves - 5 optional
- Korean rice cake - 1 cup optional
- Sweet potato - 1 whole size of your hand
- Milk - 1 cup
Dakgalbi Marinade
- Soy Sauce - 3 Tablespoons
- Gochujang - 3 Tablespoons
- Gochugaru - 2 Tablespoons
- Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
- Honey - 2 Tablespoons
- Mirim - 3 Tablespoons
- Minced garlic -1 Tablespoon
- Curry powder - 1.5 Tablespoons
- Sesame oil - 1 Tablespoon
- Black pepper - 3-4 shakes
Instructions
Prep Ingredients
- Debone chicken. Then cut into bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl and cover with milk. Let it sit in the milk for 10-15 minutes.
- Take out another mixing bowl. Place in all of the listed ingredients under "Dakgalbi Marinade". Mix thoroughly.
- Cut cabbage, sweet potato into bite-sized pieces. Cut onion, spring onions and perilla leaves into thin slices. Measure 1 cup of Korean rice cakes. (Note: If you are using frozen rice cakes, place in some warm water to soften them up first)
- Now back to the chicken: Strain the chicken and wash-off the milk under running water. Let the chicken drip-off excess water. Then place the chicken pieces into the spicy dakgalbi marinade. Let it sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes.
Cook Dakgalbi
- Take out your largest non-stick frying pan. Put some oil into the frying pan. Place on a medium-low heat.
- Once the pan is hot, place the chicken in. Throw-in the sweet potatoes in as well. Then stir the chicken around to prevent the marinade from burning.
- Keep stirring until you see the chicken turn firm (~50% cooked through). Note: If you see that the marinade is bubbling and turning sticky - reduce the heat.
- Once the chicken starts to firm up, throw in the onions and cabbage. The vegetables will wilt and release water into the pan. This will prevent the marinade from burning. Keep stirring.
- Continue to cook until the cabbage turns soft and chicken is fully cooked through. Then turn off the heat. Garnish with the perilla leaves and spring onion slices. They will cook in the residual heat.
- Enjoy with a bowl of hot rice!
Notes
- Eat with a bowl of hot rice - too spicy to eat by itself
- See video for more details
I can’t wait to make this! I ordered perilla seeds from Korea this spring and started my own patch of sesame leaves; looking forward to using them in this recipe! I think the curry powder is the missing ingredient in the recipes I’ve seen. thanks!